Which Bird Comes Top of the Class?

AUSTRALIA – Having commercial and traditional poultry breeds in New South Wales schools is teaching children that chickens are farmed but can be pets too.

Easy to maintain and fitting well with the agriculture syllabus, poultry are a great enterprise for a school, according to Carolyn Carden, agriculture teacher at Galston High School.

She says commercial broiler and layer breeds can be used to introduce farm business and agricultural economics, while breeds like Silkies and Light Sussex can give students confidence at shows.

“There’s a multitude of different reasons for keeping birds,” said Mrs Carden, in a recent interview with Poultry CRC.

“We decided to choose breeds for quite a few different reasons.”

Different breeds show variety of feathers, comb types, legs and different body sizes, which is important for Mrs Carden’s goals for her students.

A series of videos about keeping chickens in schools are being made in collaboration with the territory education authority. Poultry veterinarian, Dr Brendan Sharpe, features in the videos, offering advice on buying chickens for a school.

Whether meat, layer or pure-bred, all birds have a role within a school scenario, he explained.